


Heathens

by novascotia7777



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Anorexia, Cats, Eating Disorders, F/M, Gen, Multi, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parent Pepper Potts, Parent Tony Stark, Pets
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-03
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2019-05-01 13:54:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14522037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/novascotia7777/pseuds/novascotia7777
Summary: Snapshots of November Maria Stark's life with a defrosted Capsicle and a brainwashed spysassin as soulmates.





	1. A Pathetic Hack Job With More Holes Than Swiss Cheese (July, 2016)

**Author's Note:**

> This has been bothering me. So here, have a little story. Lmk if you want more because this universe won't leave me alone.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Nova, I need your help." 
> 
> "Is it aliens?" she had asked drowsily. "Sweetheart, I can't do aliens this early in the morning." 
> 
> "It's not aliens, doll," Steve tried to prompt her awake. "It's Bucky." 
> 
> "Bucky?" Nova sat up straight, ordering FRIDAY to hit the lights as she fumbled for her glasses. "Motherfucker, are you serious? What the fuck happened?" 
> 
> "He didn’t fight the men off. It’s like he’s given up. He let himself be brought in for a crime he didn’t commit. He gave up."

_"Nova, I need your help."_  

 _"Is it aliens?"_  she had asked drowsily.  _"Sweetheart, I can't do aliens this early in the morning."_  

 _"It's not aliens, doll,"_ Steve tried to prompt her awake.  _"It's Bucky."_  

 _"_ Bucky _?"_  Nova sat up straight, ordering FRIDAY to hit the lights as she fumbled for her glasses.  _"Mother_ fucker _, are you_ serious _? What the_ fuck _happened?"_  

 _"He didn’t fight the men off. It’s like he’s given up. He let himself be brought in for a crime he didn’t commit. He_ gave up _."_  

That was the phone call she'd received from Steve. That was the phone call that spurred her into action, immediately dressing and riding the elevator down to the Research and Development levels where the Iron Ruby suit was stored. That was the fastest method of transportation at her disposal, at the moment. Well, upgrades were always feasible and within the realm of possibility, of course. 

 _"Nova, Nova Scotia, Supernova, you can't just_ leave _!"_  

Nova stopped her father right then and there as she hastily pulled on her overcoat and wiped the sleep mud mask off of her face with a semi-clean rag. 

 _"That man has his words written on my chest, and I have mine written on his shoulder. That means, whether you like it or_ not _, Daddy, I will_ always  _help him."_  

She knew he meant well. With those goddamn Sokovia Accords hanging over their heads, their every move was being scrutinized. And the only person that had signed them so far was the man himself, to protect her despite her pointing out the flaws in the writings with a stubborn and ingenious manner. 

 _"It's the same way with you and Mom!"_  

"FRI, baby, give Momma all Ruby's got," she ordered as she kicked off from the Compound. "And play me something nice." 

 _"We have to play this right. I'll take a_   _Quinjet_ _with the Mama Spider and meet you there. You might need to find a place for you to lay low if shit goes sideways. I've got a few places in Europe. Closest to Berlin is the_ _safehouse_ _in Prague. We're gonna figure this out, Bot."_  

It was raining when she touched down in Berlin, Germany. Luckily it was more of a drizzle than a downpour. She stepped out of the suit with a silent groan of irritation (she didn't like to be wet unless she was in the shower or swimming) as she flipped the black collar of her Calvin Klein trench coat up over the back of her raven black hair and her olive-skinned neck. 

"Ruby, sentry mode," she ordered, and watched as the five-foot-eight-inch metal armor's opening closed up and purple lights glowed from the eye slits. Nova nodded to herself at the sight, then pulled out her StarkBeam to call Steve. 

Nova fucking Stark. Nineteen years old. Soulmate to Captain America and the Winter Soldier. 

 _"Welcome to a room of people who have rooms of people that they loved one day, docked away"_  

She twisted her black ace ring nervously around her right middle finger (a gift from Steve on her last birthday) as she listened to the phone go to voicemail. 

"Well shit," she swore under her breath. "Welp, time to break in!" Looking around, she found a roof access point and decided to jimmy the lock. (Thanks be to Natalie. Natasha. Natashalie. Whatever her name is. Either way, the redheaded spy was the one who taught her how to break into places without being detected.) 

The lock was stupidly simple (well, for someone trained by the Black Widow herself, that is); she had it open in less than a minute. She started to race down the stairs as fast as she allowed herself in her black wheelie shoes. When that wasn't fast enough, she slid down the railings. 

Sharon met her at the access door for the floor Steve and James were on. 

"Where are they?" she demanded. "Don't fuck with me, Carter, not right now." 

"Steve told me to take you to him. Bucky's been arrested," Sharon told her. 

"For fucking  _what_?" Nova fumed as she skated along Sharon with her wheelie shoes she loved so much. 

All too soon they came to a stop and she led Nova to where Steve was. She took a look at her soulmate, a look at his troublemaking sidekick, and crossed her arms as she cleared her throat. 

" _Great_  job hanging low, Steven," she frowned. 

"Nova," he breathed, striding over to her and holding her close. "They've got—" 

"They put James in a time out box, I know, I can feel it," she reassured him, hugging him back just as tight as she could as her mask of irritation gave way to genuine concern. Her red star soulmark and Russian phrase were both leaking resignation, like their brunet deserved everything happening to him. She ran a hand through her black hair. "We can't rely on Stark resources for this," she murmured. "Dad and I both have roles to play here." 

"I know," he whispered in her ear. 

Speak of the devil, her father just walked into the conference room where Steve and Sam were being held, took one look at his daughter, and groaned. 

"I told you to stay home," he pointed at her. 

"If I get a call that involves my soulmate, I'm gonna fuckin' be here," she frowned. 

 _"We gotta play this smart, Nova Scotia."_  

 _“I know.”_  

"Hey, you wanna see something cool?" Tony ignored her and set his attention on the Captain. "I pulled something from Dad's archives. Felt timely," her father said as he pulled out a case. He opened it to reveal two fountain pens. "FDR signed the Lend-Lease bill with these in 1941. Provided support to the Allies when they needed it most." 

"Some would say it brought our country closer to war," Captain Smartass responded. Nova rolled her eyes and stepped out of his embrace. 

"Don't feel like watching the posturing?" Sam asked as she came and sat down next to him at the table, rubbing her calves through her jeans. 

"Y'know, I was having a good night," she started with a sigh. "My space heater was gone but, meh, it was okay. I ate some ice cream, ran my heart out on the treadmill in the training center, ate some more ice cream. Watched some  _Dog Cops_  with the other resident bird. Took a couple hits off my ganja pipe that he hates. Smoked a cigarette. I don't sleep well without my space heater. I curled up against my dragon because I may be nineteen but I still sleep with a stuffed animal. And then I get a call," she frowned. "And my POW soulmate gets arrested. And based on what I've seen, he hasn't resisted. At all." 

"I noticed that, too," Sam mused. 

"...and then, Ultron. My fault," she heard her father play the blame game. "And then and then and then, I never stopped." 

She knew Tony actually felt this way, well mostly. She tuned him out again and took advantage of the fact that he was pretending to be distracted as she pulled a Starktab out of his briefcase and powered it on. She'd need a bigger screen for what she wanted to do. 

"FRIDAY, give me everything on Sergeant Barnes one more time. Hack into anything we don't have access to," she murmured, barely loud enough for the contact to hear and kept her lips still and slightly parted so any cameras couldn't pick up on lip reading. 

 _"Sergeant Barnes is being currently held in a very unneeded, highly unnecessary contained environment pod on Sub-level 5 in the east wing,"_ her baby responded, bringing up stilled images and live feeds (and very small captions for the Falcon sitting next to her so he, too, could know what the AI was saying).  _"He is being restrained by ankle cuffs, wrist cuffs, and a metal harness across his shoulders and chest. There is an 85.7% probability that he can break out of the cage within thirty seconds, and a 100% probability of him breaking out within two minutes if he so desired."_  

"Just because I understand it doesn't mean I like it," Nova frowned at the mistreatment of her soulmate. 

"Sometimes I want to punch you in your perfect teeth," Tony told her other soulmate. Well,  _that_  got her attention. She glared in his direction. "But I don't want to see you gone. Not only because you make my kid happy, but because we need you, Cap. So far, nothing's happened that can't be undone, if you sign. We can make the last twenty-four hours legit. Barnes gets transferred to an American psych center, instead of a Wakandan prison." 

"Stark doesn't have a psych center, and I'm not putting my soulmate through that kind of hell," Nova spoke up. "You remember my stints in there? No. He deserves better than that." 

"I sent you to the best centers money could buy," her father frowned. 

"They. Sucked," she bit out, not only playing the petulant teenager but letting a little genuine frustration for those places bleed through. 

"I'm not saying it's impossible," Steve said as he played with one of the pens, despite his soulmate's frustrated squawk, "but there would have to be safeguards." 

"Sure," Tony agreed. "Once we put out the PR fire, those documents can be amended. I'd file a motion to have you and Wanda reinstated—" 

"Wanda? What about Wanda?" 

"She's fine," he waved off. "She's confined to the compound, currently. Vision's keeping her company." 

"Oh, god, Tony! Every time, _every_ time I think you see things the right way!" 

Nova stopped listening when Sharon walked in holding a piece of paper that she gave to Sam. 

"The receipt for your gear," she handed Sam the paper. 

"'Bird costume'?" he read skeptically. "Come on." 

"I didn't write it," Sharon excused herself from blame as Nova chuckled. 

"FRIDAY, give me everything on the UN bombing," the teen ordered and set to going to work. If she was going to get James out of this obvious and  _pathetic_  hack  _frame_  job, it was gonna take some brain power to prove it to the suits with a vendetta. 

* * *

 

"Oh, my god," Nova froze. 

"What?" Steve came up behind her. Nova shoved her tablet to his chest, which he took, and marched over to what's-his-face. 

"Are you kidding me?" Nova screamed, yanking on his shoulder to get him to face her. "Are you  _fucking kidding me_?" 

"Get your hands off me," he bit. 

"Your shrink is telling  _my soulmate_  that  _I'm dead_!" 

"He's a  _criminal_ , and will be  _treated as such_ ," asshole defended himself. 

"By  _psychological manipulation_? He's a  _prisoner of war_!" 

"He's a  _murderer_ , Miss Stark—" 

"He's been  _brainwashed_!" 

When the whole building went black, her heart stopped. 

"C'mon, guys, get me eyes on Barnes!" what's-his-face ordered, turning away from her. The one with the hard on for making sure James "paid" for his crimes. Everett Ross, her mind finally supplied the name. 

"FRIDAY, get me the source of that outage," Tony ordered quietly. 

"FRIDAY, get me a route to the east wing of Sublevel Five on my glasses," Nova commanded, sneaking away and motioning for her Captain and his sidekick to follow. Tony grabbed her sleeve and held her back. 

"No. We don't know what's going on, and I don't want you near the triggered Winter Soldier if that's the case. He could kill you!" 

"He  _knows_  me; let me go," she tried to yank her arm free. 

"Like he knows Steve? Remember him almost  _killing_  him on the Helicarrier?" her father retorted. 

"That was  _years_  ago," Nova frowned, pulling on her arm again. 

"That was  _two_  years ago—" 

"Exactly!  _Years!_  I can pull him out. I've done it before, and  _he thinks I'm dead_. I  _have_  to make this right. If you don't let me go, I'm going to bite you." 

"Nova—" 

"Daddy,  _let me go_!" she snapped in desperation, finally yanking free and tearing after Steve. 

It didn't take her long to catch up, especially with FRIDAY as her navigator. She saw bodies on the floor that were flushed red with the emergency lights flashing. So many bodies. She hoped they were alive, but she was concerned they were dead. Not concerned enough, though. James was her top priority. Steve had the shrink pressed up against the wall, his feet dangling inches from the floor. 

"Who are you? What do you want?" her soulmate demanded. 

"He told James I was dead," Nova bit out. "He told James that he slipped into Soldier and killed me." 

Steve paled and tightened his grip. 

"Where's James?" Nova demanded. "Where is he?" 

"What I  _want_?" he repeated with a laugh. "I want to see an empire fall." 

Nova heard Sam yell and a crashing noise, and Steve let the man fall to the ground before going to his friend's aid. 

"If  _anything_ happens, I'm holding  _you_  responsible," she bit before kicking him in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. She knocked him unconscious before going to where she last heard fighting. 

Sam had been thrown against James's... cage, and boy did that make her nauseated. 

"He's Soldier," Sam panted, trying to regain his breath. "He went Soldier." 

"He thinks I'm dead," Nova offered a hand to pull him up, which he took. "That fake shrink asshole told him I was dead, and that Soldier blanked and killed me and can't remember." 

"For fucks sake," Sam swore. 

"We gotta find him," she demanded. 

"Yeah," Sam breathed his agreement. "Get to Barnes, I'll go after shithead." 

"He's not where I left him?" 

"Nope." 

"Fuck. Next time I'm kicking his head in harder." 

The next set of commotion was coming from some sort of food court.  _What the hell_ is _this place?_  she thought. James—no,  _Soldier_  was going ballistic. All the civilians were out of the way, which was good. What  _wasn't_  good was that Natasha was sitting on Soldier's shoulders, thighs wrapped around his throat, fists banging on his head in an effort to knock him out. Then, Soldier slammed Natasha onto the table and wrapped his metal hand around her neck. 

 _James._  

"James!" she screamed. " _James!_  James, look at me!  _James_ _!_ " 

He froze, his grip loosened, and Natasha booked it. She got out from under his grip and a few feet away from his reach, coughing and gasping and trying to breathe. 

"James, look at me," she begged, taking a step towards him. He took a step back with a rugged and broken gasp, fighting the programming.

"Ty mertv. Ya ubil vas." His voice was shaky but had that Russian lit she loved. Right now she hated it. "Ya sokrushil vashtu truby moyey metallicheskoy rukoy." (You're dead. I killed you. I crushed your windpipe with my metal arm.) He bit back a sob and let himself be taken back into Soldier.

"You didn't!" Nova vowed, a tear escaping her eye. "Look at me, my love, really  _look_. Soldier,  _look at me_!" His eyes snapped back to hers and she moved to get into his space. 

"Get away from him, Miss Stark, he is dangerous," someone ordered. He had an African undertone to his voice and an attitude that dictated that he was used to being obeyed. 

"Shut the fuck up, you don't know anything," she retorted instantly, not even bothering to grace him with an icy glare. "James, look at me. Really  _look_ ," she pleaded. She took his metal hand and he completely froze. "This hand could never hurt me, because it's part of you. It's carried my groceries, loved on my cat, whipped egg whites for chocolate cake," she laughed brokenly. "It's held me when I needed it and played with my hair because shimmering energy or whatever you call it and brought me my glasses when I couldn't see. It's part of  _you_ , and it could never hurt me.  _Look_ ," she brought the sensors in his fingertips to her heartbeat, ignoring the fact that it could be seen as groping. People could fuck off. "My heart is beating. I'm alive. I'm not dead." 

"Sto dvadtsat' shest'," he murmured. 

"What is that, one twenty-six, right?" she translated. 

"Bystro." (Fast.) 

Nova laughed. "I've been under a bit of stress today, love." 

"Okay, I knew Nova was magic, but I didn't know she was  _this_ magical," Wilson muttered to Natasha and Tony. 

"I do not understand," the African man stated as he watched Miss Stark interact with the Winter Soldier. "He has completely stilled." 

"They're soulmates," Tony explained. "Trust me, I don't like it. But he's been there for her, even when I couldn't be. The fact that he killed my parents, I can't hate him for that. It wasn't him, not really. He was ordered to by HYDRA." 

"He killed my father. He must pay." 

"I don't think he did," Nova spoke up, James's metal hand still on her boob. Her bare boob, thanks v-necks. "There's more holes in that bullshit story than Swiss cheese, I mean, talk about a hack job. And I want to know who told him I was dead! I'm  _very_  pissed about that!" 

"Uspokoysya," James murmured. (Calm down) 

"No. That's very not okay. I am anger," she fumed. "I am many anger. I want heads on spits anger. Also! I call mistreatment!" 

Steve came running in, panting from exertion, with Everett Ross on his tail. 

"Mr. Barnes needs to go back to his cell," Ross ordered. 

"You mean the cell he punched a hole through?" she laughed without humor. " _Sergeant_  Barnes will be going absolutely nowhere," Nova turned her anger back on the asshole. "You will not touch him." 

"Ex _cuse_ —" 

"Shut the fuck up, I am not  _finished_ ," she hissed. "You are  _not_  going to turn this into a whole thing like your father did with Doctor Banner. Yeah,  _assface_ , I did my research. You will not do  _anything_  without me present. You will  _not_  try to separate us. If you  _do_ , I will report you to the Department of Soulmate Procedures for mistreatment.  _Especially_ because someone under  _your_  command told him I was  _dead_. That's a  _big_  no-no. Based on how docile he was when he was being arrested, I have reason to believe that lie has gone on since then. And I am  _pissed_. Not  _only_  have you pissed  _me_  off with that bullshit, but you've pissed off Captain America. That's Sergeant Barnes's other soulmate, as I'm sure you know." 

James taking a shuddering breath brought her out of her tirade. 

"N-Nova?" 

" _James_ , oh-my-god, James," she gasped as all traces of Russian, and the Soldier, vanished from his persona. It was James, it was the slight Brooklyn twang, and she finally let the tears fall. 

"Nova, you're alive," he sobbed, and fell to his knees as he clutched at her legs. She slid down to the floor and climbed into his lap. 

"James, James, James," she repeated like a mantra, her hands coming to his face as she pressed their foreheads together. 

"When they—when they told me," he cried. 

"No, love, no, you couldn't, we both know that," she shushed him. 

"They had p-pictures, they showed me _pictures_ of y —" James choked, and she pulled his face into her neck so he could feel the thump-thump of her carotid. 

"It wasn't real. I'm right here, it wasn't real. I'm okay. I'm here." 

And she was going to burn those bastards all to the ground. 


	2. Introductions (June, 2015)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nova pulled into Manhattan, parked the Jeep on some street somewhere, and gave James the key. 
> 
> "Don't argue with me, just take it because I know you aren't ready to go to the Tower and risk running into tall, blonde, and patriotic anytime soon," she insisted. James gave her a capital-L Look but took the key in his flesh hand anyway. "And if you're going to ditch Ruby, give me a call first." 
> 
> "Yes, Nova," he agreed emotionlessly, and she couldn't resist giving him a kiss on the cheek when she hugged him.

Soulmates were... an interesting concept, to say the least. 

The whole idea of a higher power choosing whom a person spent the rest of his/her/their life with? And in order to find him/her/them, one had a set of a phrase or phrases inked onto their flesh. The words started out as black. Some were born with them already marked, signaling an older soulmate. And on others, the words appeared when their mate was born. When mates met, the words changed colors. And, heaven forbid (what an odd phrase), if a mate died, the words on their mate turned grey. 

That was only one of the possibilities, however. The other was a different kind of soulmark: symbols. Symbols occurred when one soulmate touched another, leaving a mark similar to a tattoo but without the pain. An image that symbolized the one that did the touching. It could be anything from a music note from someone that loved music to a sort of pattern that didn't particularly make any sense to a common passerby. Usually only the phraseless received marks. 

Meeting one’s soulmate was an electrifying experience for all parties involved. It was like a pleasant shock or burn to the words inked on flesh by Fate, a failsafe to insure mates were met. Especially for those who had common words or phrases on their flesh, such as "yes," "no," or "would you like fries with that?" She was thankful that she didn't have "hey" written on her skin. That was another common one. 

Nova had two phrases: one in a beautiful shade of admiral blue across her collarbone, one in brilliant crimson on her left forearm. (That one had self harm scars under it, but not because she was ashamed of the man whose handwriting it was.) She had a mark, a shield, on her left shoulder blade, and a red star on the palm of her left hand. Having two soulmates was incredibly rare and not completely accepted by society as such. 

Nova was one of the weird ones, ones that had marks  _and_  phrases. Extremely rare, virtually unheard of. 

But, then again, so was she. 

* * *

 

 _I must not eat._ That was the thought circulating through Nova's head.  _I'm not hungry, I'm just bored._  She took a deep breath and hit the books again, taking a sip of her diet Dr Pepper from her plastic Double Gulp cup as she pushed her black framed glasses higher up the bridge of her nose. Despite it being three-thirty in the morning, time had no meaning as she studied for her final exams. 

While Nova lived in Cambridge, whenever she was home and wanted company, she would always leave the window open. Many animals entered simply to seek refuge, whether from attackers or the weather. Some were attracted to the promise of food she always fulfilled. But few came for the actual subconscious calmness that she unknowingly radiated. 

The stereotype that associated black cats with the supernatural was true. The stereotype claiming that black cats were evil or 'bad luck' was completely false. Cats, especially those with black fur, were capable of sensing creatures not normally seen and energies not normally felt more so than dogs or 'normal' pure humans. That's why animals are drawn to good people. They can sense the energies, the auras, the kindness some people have. One would never see an animal willingly and by its choice in the presence of an unrepentant murderer or rapist, even if that soul is its their owner. It's a fact of life, like the sky being blue, living grass being green, and Earth's oceans being affected by its moon. 

Nova shook her head and set her textbook down. She couldn't focus; the words and letters on the pages were blurring together. She set down the book that was bigger than her head on her dark wooden coffee table and rose from her crosslegged position on her light blue but plush sofa, raising her arms over her head. She linked her fingers and twisted her back, then bent down and rolled her spine, listening to the popping sounds her body created. While it felt good, it also worsened her dizziness. She took another drink from her soda and made her way the few feet to her kitchen. Since Nova couldn't remember the last time she ate, she grabbed a yellow banana and pinched the bottom of it to open the peel up.  _Passing out from low blood sugar is not the way to go,_  she told herself as she forced herself to take a bite. It was also shark week, so she didn't have the heart to stop herself from unwrapping a square of dark chocolate and partaking in that as well.  _I'm still in control_ , she thought. 

"FRIDAY," her voice croaked before she cleared her throat. "Shuffle my Color the Small One playlist." 

 _"You got it, boss lady,"_ FRIDAY chirped over the speakers. Waiting to Be Weightless by ElysianSoul played over her flat's ceiling speakers and Nova moved back to her sofa. She still had work to do. 

* * *

 

Sleep didn't happen. She chugged a zero-calorie watermelon Rockstar at seven a.m. while she was on the bus. Whoever decided that it was a good idea to schedule all her finals on the same day was Satan. Her first final was Operating Systems Engineering, so she picked up her pace and made her way onto campus, taking a hit of her vape before she wasn't allowed to anymore. 

 **07:38 From:**   **Tinhead** **Message: Good luck on finals, kiddo! I'm proud of you. You're gonna do great.**  

Of course, he hacked her calendar. She rolled her eyes fondly as she thumbed out a response. 

 **07:38 To:** **Tinhead** **Message: Thanks** **tinhead** **;)**  

 **07:38 From:**   **Tinhead** **Message: *** **eyeroll** *** When are you coming to NYC?**  

Nova made it to her classroom in record time, setting her energy drink can on the desk with a clunk. She hung her laptop bag off the back of the swivel desk chair and took her seat. 

 **07:40 To:** **Tinhead** **Message: Idk. All my finals are scheduled today which sucks balls. But at least I don't have to obsess over it all week**  

 **07:41 From:** **Tinhead** **Message: You're a worrywart**  

 **07:41 To:**   **Tinhead** **Message: *middle finger***  

 **07:41 To:**   **Tinhead** **Message: Gtg my os engineering final is in 20 and I wanna cram a bit before**  

She shut her phone off as the instructor walked in. 

 **07:41 From:** **Tinhead** **Message: Don't worry. You're gonna do great. I believe in you kiddo**  

* * *

 

After finals, Nova didn't tell anyone she was leaving Massachusetts, except for her mother. Her mother was magic and knew everything (however, she was sure that she and FRIDAY regularly consorted on her). 

"Batman, naughty boys don't get treats, get back in your seat. Go sit with James," Nova chastised, gently nudging the tuxedo cat off her lap. He meowed in contempt but went back to his side of the dark green Jeep, meloning in James's lap. "You know my dad hates Ruby?" she said as she lovingly rubbed the dashboard. "He thinks I should have something more flashy and expensive, like an Audi or a Ferrari. But I'm not a sports car kind of girl. I like functionality. And if I roll a Ferrari, I'm dead." James growled a little at that, and Nova took his metal hand comfortingly. "Plus, you can't offroad in a fancy Ferrari. I love my Rubicon. It has all the bells and whistles, and, of course, my girl FRIDAY." 

 _"I aim to please, boss lady,"_ FRIDAY spoke from the speakers in the Jeep. 

"He tried buying me a Ferrari. Actually, he  _did_. I think it's in the garage somewhere. Wait, it might've gone down with Malibu Mansion. I actually don't remember." 

 _"The 2015 LaFerrari you named Farrah went down with Malibu Mansion,"_  FRIDAY told her. 

"A one-point-four- _million_ -dollar car went down with Malibu Mansion," she sighed. "Well, I mean, it's a lot of money, but not to my dad." 

"One-point-four million could buy a lot in the 40s," James spoke up for the first time in hours. Nova was used to his silence but loved it when he spoke. He had an amazing voice, even if he bounced around with accents. Today his had a Russian lit to it. She thought she liked the Russian accent the best. 

"I wonder how many packets of cigarettes it could buy," she mused. "Mind lighting me one? There should be a packet in my purse." 

He released her hand, undid the snaps, lifted up the flap, and undid the drawstrings that held the camo backpack she called a purse closed. ("One of my soulmates is former army, and I'm assuming the other one is, too. Camo is totally acceptable, Jamie.") It was packed full, with an emergency change of clothes, a spare phone charger, an emergency credit card, some diet pills that he didn’t know what they were for and wouldn’t know what they actually were for, a set of glitter pens, a notebook, some aromatherapy mint-sage lotion, her knee brace (that she should probably wear, especially because she was driving from Cambridge to New York City, almost four hours pissing off her right knee that had a penchant for dislocating on a whim), some pomegranate raspberry matcha tea bags, several different tubes of different colored lipsticks, caffeine pills, a bottle of ibuprofen and acetaminophen, several crumpled-up receipts, a tangled ball of necklaces, and a packet of Marlboro Black 100s with a lighter inside. He pulled out the packet and closed her bag back up and set it back on the floor by his feet. 

"Oh, put my son in the back seat before you do, please, love. I hate smoking around him," Nova reminded him. He didn't need the reminder, and he smiled at her worry for the feline that had also quickly clawed his way into his stone-cold heart. Nonetheless, he gently shoved Batman to the back seat, where he laid in his blanket throne and settled in for a nap. 

James handed her a lit cigarette which Nova took a greedy puff out of, and then lit one for himself before setting the packet in the console next to the semi-empty Starbucks cups sitting in the cupholders. 

"Another thing I like about Ruby: the back. Did you see all the space back there?" He had, when he was helping Nova load up her suitcase (he didn't allow her to say no; Assets—  _soulmates_  had to be useful, and he couldn't let a dame do something he could easily do for her; he was a gentleman under the programming and trauma). "You can fit a body back there, possibly two," she continued. "And you can fold the back seats down to make even  _more_  space. Can't do that in a Ferrari. I don't even think I could fit one of the bot bros in there. I can easily fit one, maybe two in here. Actually, I bet I could fit all three of the bros." 

The bot bros: DUM-E, Butterfingers, and U.  

"It’s your turn to pick the tunes," Nova offered, passing over her phone. He knew, based on other car rides with her, that he could pick from the screen on the dash, or request FRIDAY to do it for him, but he preferred to look at all of the options on her phone, and she knew that. 

James put on Say Hey (I Love You), and Nova laughed. She didn't know it was his favorite simply because he enjoyed her singing and dancing to the song. 

* * *

 

Nova pulled into Manhattan, parked the Jeep on some street somewhere, and gave James the key. 

"Don't argue with me, just take it because I know you aren't ready to go to the Tower and risk running into tall, blonde, and patriotic anytime soon," she insisted. James gave her a capital-L Look but took the key in his flesh hand anyway. "And if you're going to ditch Ruby, give me a call first." 

"Yes, Nova," he agreed emotionlessly, and she couldn't resist giving him a kiss on the cheek when she hugged him. 

"FRIDAY, since I  _know_  you'll be monitoring me, be a dear and let James join in your electronic shadowing." Nova, holding Batman in one hand, pushed a tablet into James's hands as well. 

 _"Of course, boss lady,"_ FRIDAY chirped. 

"Awesome. Cool beans. The penile monument isn't too far from here, I'll probably just walk it." Couldn't be more than ten blocks, and she packed light. She mailed over the more important (and heavy) stuff earlier with a note:  **Don't open. Property of Nova! This means** **you** **, Tony! And Clint!** The last two words had been scribbled on as an afterthought. She trusted everyone else not to go through her shit. The only things she had with her were a rolling suitcase with a handle, her laptop shoulder bag, her aforementioned camo purse, and Batman. The feline liked to be carried, either in her hand like one would a chihuahua or other small dog, or he perched on her shoulder like a parrot. "I love you," she smiled brilliantly at James as he gave the cat a farewell head scritch. 

(Batman was magic.) 

" _Ya_ _lyublyu_ _tebya_ _,_ _Noyabr_ _'_ ," he told her in Russian. (I love you, November) She smiled, gave him another kiss, and walked away without turning back. It was always hard to walk away from him, but she knew it was for the best. He needed to figure out how to get his head on straight, and, though it broke her heart, she couldn't be there for him every single step of the way. Some things he had to work through himself. 

She thought about her soulmark on her collarbone and wondered, as she wondered every time she returned home, if she was going to meet him today. Steve Rogers. Mister "You, uh. I-I woke up from the ice with those words." She smirked when she finally came up on Stark Tower, chuckled a little, then walked into the building as the doors opened automatically. 

Stark Tower. Everyone could call it Avengers Tower all they wanted, but to her it would always be Stark Tower. Home. Well, Malibu was  _home_  home, but that had been spectacularly blown to smithereens a few years ago. She missed it, but that was okay. She was more irritated by the fact that he made a robot that turned into a murder-bot last month. So, she was going to yell at the older Stark for being a dumb dumb. 

After waving to Francine the receptionist, she strode over to the farthest elevator, which opened for her. "Beam me up, Scotty," she smiled, and FRIDAY waited before the shiny doors were closed before speaking. 

 _"Welcome home, boss lady. Shall I alert Boss to your presence?"_ the AI offered. 

"Hello, my brain child. No need. He'll figure it out if he hasn't already," she smiled up at the security camera as the elevator proceeded its vertical crawl upwards. "I assume your grandpa has all the necessities stocked in the penthouse?" 

 _"The top ramen you like and Doc Banner's tea collection is fully stocked,"_  FRIDAY confirmed as the doors opened to reveal the exact place, throwing the ramen remark in to hopefully convince her to eat something. 

"Awesome, mind switching on the kettle? I got shit to drop off." 

 _"On it,"_  she responded, and Nova pulled her suitcase down the hallway to her room. It was no surprise that FRIDAY knew her so well. Nova, with barely any help from Tony, coded her and finished her last year. 

"Babe, play me something pretty. Something off the 'Carter' playlist," she suggested, and Super Bass by Nicki Minaj played over the speakers in the ceiling of her room. She started lip syncing the verse as she yanked her suitcase on top of her very large circle shaped bed and then removed Batman's leash and harness. "Does Mom know I'm here?" she asked as she set her flower-patterned laptop case on her mahogany desk. With a few steps to her floor-to-ceiling windows, she threw open her curtains like a villain from a movie. 

 _"Madame Boss has been alerted to your arrival; I tried to alert Boss but he was invested in other activities."_  

"Doc Banner's visiting, then, being his nerd best friend, I presume," she mused as she unzipped the maroon suitcase. 

 _"Excellent deduction skills, boss lady."_  

"Great," she rolled her eyes. Good luck getting  _his_  attention when his nerd best friend was around. She began the arduous and boring task of unfolding and hanging up the clothes she brought home, which was the entirety of her MIT wardrobe. She surveyed the room as she hung her clothes up in her walk-in closet that was big enough to hide several super-soldier-sized bodies. The ceiling of the closet even had vent access so she could chase around a certain hawk in the ductwork. Her room remained just as she'd left it when she was last home during Winter break. Her walls were still painted with forest and tree scenes and her ceiling still had the starry night sky, complete with glow in the dark stars. Her circle nest bed was made up as a nest should be, with pillows and stuffed animals littering the surface. Her nightstand and desk were adorned with framed pictures and a corkboard sat above the desk. A picture of her wearing a thick glove with an owl perched on it (age thirteen), one of her and her cat, Batman (age sixteen, the day she adopted him), one of her with her mother, and one of her with her father (both age fourteen) were all on the desk. A copy of her adoption certificate was framed on the wall next to the corkboard. On her corkboard, next to the tablet that displayed her calendar and appointments, were various quotes, images of sunflowers and owls, and a photo strip featuring her and her adoptive parents.  _"The kettle has reached optimum temperature, boss lady,"_  FRIDAY pinged. 

"Thanks, FRI, I'm almost done and then I'll make a nice cup of lemon green tea," she smiled at the ceiling. After she hung up her last few garments and stashed the suitcase on one of the shelves, she took off her boots, leather jacket, and pants, being very careful not to look at her body in the mirror, and then ventured to her en-suite bathroom to piss. The bathroom was beach themed, with sandy colored tile floors and ocean blue walls. There was a picture here, of the first time she felt the sand in her toes. She was twelve years old, and it was a picture of her in the middle of Pepper and Tony, holding both their hands and donning an exuberant smile. Four months after she saved Pepper from the Welsh drug cartels. Four months after the paternity test. A week after the adoption finally went through. A day after she packed up everything she owned and boarded her first ever airplane. An hour and a half after they landed in Malibu, California. 

When her hands were washed with warm water and dried with a soft blue hand towel, she walked out of the bathroom, pulled on a pair of marbled yoga pants, slipped on memory foam sneakers and a long navy-blue cardigan, and left her room, shutting the door behind her and making sure her girl FRIDAY locked it before walking down the hallway to where the main living room/kitchen area was. She knew there was a communal floor for all the resident superheroes (read: strays) her father had taken in, but she wanted familiar and safe and her favorite owl mug. Plus, she was wearing her cozy clothes. She looked like a trash panda. "Babe, do you know where Dad is?" 

 _"Boss man is in his lab,"_  FRIDAY answered,  _"with Doc Banner and Captain Rogers."_  

"Lovely," Nova rolled her eyes as she poured hot water into her owl mug. Nova knew how well Tony and the Captain got along, which was to say, not at all. She was sure the relationship would either magically change or become more strained once the Cap knew what he was to her. Mostly because Tony was a giant troll. She grabbed a tea bag from the glass-paned cupboard (see-through was her idea, made finding things easier) and plopped it in her mug, giving the tea a good stir after tearing open and pouring in two Splenda packets. "Alright," she gripped her mug and walked to the elevator. She waited (im)patiently for the doors to open, bouncing on the balls of her feet (fidgeting burns calories). Batman darted in as the doors were closing, and she gave him a Look. He meowed innocently and she sighed. "Child, you're grounded. You know better. No labs." He meowed again and she just groaned. Her child was a rule-breaking troublemaker. No wonder he got along with Birdbrain. 

When the elevator took her down to the lab levels, she walked out of the metal confines, down a hallway, and stopped and waited for FRIDAY to open the heavy-duty glass doors to her father's personal lab. 

Tony and the Captain were arguing. She totally called it. Nova rolled her eyes and moved around them. They didn’t even notice her. 

"Hey, Brucie-bear," she smiled as she greeted Bruce in his domain of the lab. 

"Hello, Nova," the disgruntled scientist sighed. 

"They been at this for long?" she hooked a thumb to the bickering duo. 

"Unfortunately," he confirmed. She pulled out a pack of Marlboro Black 100s from her pocket and removed a cigarette, sticking the filter between her red lips as she lit the smoke. She puffed a few times, forcing smoke out the end of it, before she was satisfied and tucked her lighter away. She put up with the bickering for about two minutes before she started rounding up thick textbooks. She stacked seven books together as she held her cigarette between her lips and teeth. Picking up the stack that weighed about as much as she did, she nearly fell over as she let the books fall on the ground. The bickering idiots startled and looked to her. 

"You two," she said as she took a drag and let it out, "can color me  _extremely_  unimpressed right now." 

The Captain completely froze as Nova said his words, and she smiled. 

"Get that cancer stick out of my lab or I'm telling DUM-E you're on f-i-r-e," Tony threatened. The bot in question started slowly rolling to where he heard his name. 

"Do it, he likes me better," she laughed as she took another hit. (Cigarettes are good at killing hunger cravings and stupid stomach cramping.) Then she glared. "You wanna explain the murder bot you made?" 

Tony blanched. "Not really, no." 

"Then I'm going to continue to smoke in here," she crossed her arms. 

"You, uh," Steve interrupted, looking at her like she hung the very stars in the sky. "I-I woke up from the ice with those words." 

Nova smiled brilliantly at him. 

"Y'know," she drawled as she took another hit of the ciggy. "I've been waiting a long time for you." 

"No way," Tony interrupted. "Nope. I refuse. No. You're grounded." 

"Uh, no.  _You_  made a murder bot.  _You're_  grounded. Go away," she snapped before she turned back to Steve. "I'm Nova. Nova Stark." 

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what y'all think


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